Lorraine Van Hale Wagner and Martha Gaetz have seen St. Cloud nearly triple in size since their childhood. The disappearance of streetcars, business closures and fires, and the addition of three Sauk Rapids bridges are just a few of the things the friends have witnessed.

On Thursday, the pair celebrated their 93rd birthdays together at the Red Carpet Nightclub's Martini Lounge.

Gaetz turned 93 Sunday, and Van Hale Wagner turned 93 Friday.

“How fortunate can we be, coming to a martini bar at 93?” said Van Hale Wagner.

Contrary to her martini-themed scarf, Van Hale Wagner had never actually had a martini. And Gaetz had her first and last martini, she said, when no one told her what was in them and she unwittingly drank a touch too much.

Still, gathering at the lounge has become something of a tradition for the two childhood friends when, approximately two years ago, they discovered their birthdays were in the same week.

As lifelong residents of St. Cloud, Van Hale Wagner and Gaetz have seen vast changes throughout the area.

Gaetz and Van Hale Wagner attended Cathedral High School and graduated in 1943.

“I was always so proud of the fact I went to Cathedral,” said Van Hale Wagner. It was her choice to attend the school, she said, and she worked off the $2 per month she paid to attend. She was the first person in her family to go to high school.

When the two started school, the center was brand new and there was no south building, Van Hale Wagner and Gaetz said, and they braved the elements to get there.

Van Hale Wagner walked two miles to school every day, regardless of the weather.

After graduating, both women eventually started work and raised families. Van Hale Wagner worked as a school lunch manager and later at St. Cloud Hospital in the nutrition area. Gaetz worked at Sears Roebuck on Sixth Avenue before it burned down.

Van Hale Wagner has been married twice. She raised her six children — three girls and three boys — on her own after her first husband died. She “raised them to be very independent,” she said.

Gaetz had 14 children, three of whom were girls.

Five of her children are now in the Twin Cities area. Another child owns the Red Carpet, Gaetz said. Her 43rd great-grandchild is expected in March, which will leave her with 100 direct descendants.

“You can’t have ‘too many’ kids,” Gaetz said.

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Lorraine Van Hale Wagner and Martha Gaetz talk about their experiences in St. Cloud while celebrating their 93rd birthdays with a drink Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Red Carpet Nightclub's Martini Lounge in St. Cloud. (Photo11: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

Granite and family ties

In addition to growing up and raising families here, both women have unique connections to the area.

Van Hale Wagner’s parents were first-generation Polish immigrants. Her mother wouldn’t teach her Polish, she said, because it was too hard to learn English.

Sometimes, Van Hale Wagner regrets that.

Her father worked for over 30 years at North Star Quarry.

Gaetz's grandfather, William Campbell, on the other hand, owned the quarry. He came over from Scotland and was shipwrecked, she said, losing all his belongings. He worked on a memorial in Vermont and later became the owner of the quarry, Gaetz said.